Sony Details PS3 Hardware Changes

And the company explains why it had to change, too.

When it comes to hardware, price matters, and the end product of that line of thinking made big news last week, when Sony revealed that it is working on a version of the PS3 for Europe that uses a new method for playing old games.

Up to now, PS3s released in the US and Japan have included the Emotion Engine and Graphics Synthesizer chips from the PS2, ensuring that nearly all PS2 games work on the PS3.

The new version of the PS3, which makes its debut in Europe on 23 March before moving in to other territories, drops the Emotion Engine chip completely and uses some hardware and software emulation to do the job of the Graphics Synthesizer, according to a Sony statement relayed by IGN.

The reason for this is simple: cost.

Speaking to 1UP last week, a spokesperson for Sony's European arm said that the move to drop the hardware was done to ease some of the cost burden of the PS3.

"This move is a part of our cost saving measures, similar to the wide variety of cost saving measures we have applied with both the original PlayStation and with PS2," the spokesperson told 1UP. "In time this leads to a reduction in the cost of manufacture and over time allows us to reduce the cost of the PS3 to consumers."

Recent estimates had it that Sony is losing up to $200 for each PS3 made.

Sony admitted that fewer PS2 games would be playable on the PS3 right away. The company is planning to put up a site on launch day, 23 March, where PS3 owners can check which of their PS2 games will work on the new hardware.

Alex Wollenschlaeger
Editor, Kikizo